The Manhunt
by The Needless Lobsters
Summary: "Tony sighed softly as he lay beside Ziva, caressing her cheek softly. It had been an especially long week at NCIS, and they had wanted to unwind. Of course, they hadn't exactly meant to unwind together…"


_**After the first phase,  
after passionate nights and intimate days,**_

Tony sighed softly as he lay beside Ziva, caressing her cheek softly. She looked angelic as she slept – nothing like the troubled woman that she was during the day. She had her hands pressed flat against his bare chest. The two were in her apartment. It had been an especially long week at NCIS, and they had wanted to unwind. Of course, they hadn't exactly meant to unwind together…

_**only then would he let me trace  
the frozen river which ran through his face,**_

_He caressed her cheek softly, smiling as she leant into the touch. "You want to get a drink?" he asked._

_She sighed softly. "I don't know…" she muttered. "I am not really in the mood to drown my sorrows in alcohol…"_

"_We don't have to drown them…" At her doubtful look, he relented. "Then how about we go to your place?" Tony suggested._

_Ziva stared at him before nodding. "Of course. Let's go."_

_She didn't notice how he was faintly tracing the scar on her cheek._

_**only then would he let me explore  
the blown hinge of his broken jaw,**_

_He held her jaw gently as he scanned her face. He looked over all of the scars that had been left there – all of the reminders of her capture._

_Ziva bit her lip. "They make me look hideous, do they not?"_

_Tony shook his head. "You're as beautiful as you've always been. You are the beautiful, strong Ziva David."_

_She blushed deeply before turning her head away. "I am not beautiful," she stated simply._

_Tony sighed before turning her head back and kissing her softly._

_**and handle and hold  
the damaged porcelain collar bone,**_

_He ran his hands down her neck as he kissed her softly, his thumb brushing over her collarbone._

_She gasped softly._

_He pulled away when he heard her gasp. "Did that hurt?" he asked softly._

_Ziva hesitated before shaking her head. "I just… I didn't…"_

_He blinked for a couple of seconds before pressing his lips to hers again. He smiled when he felt her return the kiss softly, her lips caressing his own._

_**and mind and attend  
the fractured rudder of shoulder-blade,**_

_His hands then left her neck and travelled down her back softly, his fingers hovering over her shoulder-blades._

_He knew there were scars there._

_Whip-marks, burn marks, cuts and gashes. He knew her skin had been marred during her capture. His own had suffered the same fate on a lesser scale._

_Ziva could sense Tony hesitating and pulled out of the kiss. "What is wrong?" she asked curiously, although she had a worried frown on her face._

"_Nothing, nothing," he answered quickly. He gazed into her eyes lovingly before pressing his lips to hers again, this kiss filled with more passion than before._

_**and finger and thumb  
the parachute silk of his punctured lung.**_

_Minutes later, Ziva pulled away from the kiss, breathless. She hadn't had the time to fully recover after she was captured. As soon as she had returned, she had insisted on beginning her work again at NCIS. Yes, she was now a probationary agent, but anything beat working for that _man_. But she hadn't exactly realised how much she needed to recover._

_Not until now, that was._

_Tony gave Ziva a concerned look as he watched her attempt to breathe normally again. "Zi? Are you…"_

"_I am fine," she replied after a few seconds of breathing. "I just… needed a bit of time to recover…"_

_He nodded. "I'll wait. Just tell me when you're ready."_

_**Only then could I bind the struts  
and climb the rungs of his broken ribs,**_

_Ziva's eyes widened slightly at his words. _'…when you're ready…'_ "Tony…"_

_He raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes, Ziva?"_

"_Did I ever tell you about the… extent of my injuries?"_

_Tony frowned slightly. "You told me about your broken ribs… which you got fixed, I hope." He gave her a pointed look._

_She gave him a small innocent smile. "I may have…" Her face became serious. "But… can I show them to you?"_

"_Well, do you trust me?"_

_**and feel the hurt  
of his grazed heart.**_

"_Yes. Do you trust me?"_

"_Of course." He leant in close so that their noses were almost touching. "I can't live without you, Ziva. I… I love you."_

_If you were to ask her, Ziva would most definitely tell you that her heart missed a beat. She swore she could feel it. And once it began beating again, it was beating faster and stronger than before. He loved her. Her heart was happy._

_Because she loved him too._

"_I love you too, Tony." She took a deep breath before turning away from him._

_He frowned. "Ziva, what are you…"_

_And then she lifted her shirt._

_**Skirting along,  
only then could I picture the scan,**_

_Tony's eyes widened as they flitted across the scars across Ziva's back._

_They were big. Long whip marks stretched from her shoulders right down to her lower back, the angry scars glaring at him. There were short, sharp knife scars linking the whip marks together, marring her shoulders._

_He could picture it._

_Ziva, bound to the chair, chains holding her wrists and feet together. And then, suddenly, she's pulled to her feet, stripped and whipped. Blood running down her back as she screamed. The sinister laugh coming from… _him_._

_He shakily reached forward and skimmed his fingers over the scars, pulling away slightly when she flinched. "Ziva… why didn't you tell me before?"_

_She bit her lip, her facial expression not being revealed as her back was still turned. "I… I thought…" She gasped when she felt him touch the spot just beneath the back of her shoulder._

_He'd found the bullet wound._

_**the foetus of metal beneath his chest  
where the bullet had finally come to rest.**_

_He froze when he touched it. "He shot you?" he asked incredulously. When she didn't answer, he repeated the question, this time with anger and more force in his voice. "He shot you?!"_

_Ziva's lower lip quivered. She hadn't wanted him to know. His voice was scaring her. "I… he…" She burst into tears._

_Tony moved so that the two were facing each other and embraced her gently. He didn't care that his own shirt was getting soaked with tears._

_**Then I widened the search,  
traced the scarring back to its source**_

_When she had calmed down enough, Tony took the chance to ask what was on his mind. "Why?"_

_Ziva frowned. "Why what?" she asked, her voice still watery._

"_Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked her softly._

_She hesitated, her eyes searching his face for any sign that he was joking, or just playing around – any sign that he would be prepared to take "I don't know" as an answer. But he was serious. "I…" She felt her throat close up._

_He raised an eyebrow. "You…?"_

_**to a sweating, unexploded mine  
buried deep in his mind,**_

"_I… I am broken goods. I do not deserve your care."_

_**around which  
every nerve in his body had tightened and closed.**_

_He stared at her in disbelief. "Ziva… when I went to Somalia, I didn't go to retrieve broken goods. I went to retrieve my best friend, my partner, my… love." He saw her eyes begin to water, but continued. "And when I got there, what I found was definitely not broken goods. I found a strong, beautiful woman that I loved and always will love. I love you, Ziva. You are perfect to me."_

_She stared at him, letting the words register. Then she pulled him in for a passionate kiss._

_**Then, and only then, did I come close.**_

"_I love you too, Tony."_


End file.
